PIERRE, S.D. (AP) - South Dakota First Lady Linda Daugaard is visiting her 200th elementary school this week as part of her initiative to encourage students to read.

Daugaard will read to students in the third, fourth and fifth grades at Lincoln Elementary School in Aberdeen on Friday.

The First Lady started her reading initiative on May 8, 2011, to stress the importance of reading as a lifelong learning tool. She says good reading skills are the foundation of all learning.

Daugaard has since read to more than 19,000 elementary students across South Dakota. In addition to reading to students, Daugaard also uses the visits to collect gently used chapter books to distribute in classrooms at other schools. Books from the last school visited go to the next school on her list.

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